Two people suffocated and several others were reportedly
injured after a woman dropped her cell phone into a cesspool in Xinxiang
City, Henan province, China.

According to the South China Morning Post, the woman's husband climbed down into the open-pit toilet
to collect the phone, worth about $300. He was reportedly overcome by
the stench, lost consciousness and fell in. The man's mother reportedly
jumped in after her son, but she also fainted.

Neighbors were
called for help after the owner of the phone tried to save her husband
and mother-in-law. She also lost consciousness. Several other people
were injured in an attempt to help the victims.

“The smell was too strong. I lost consciousness before I could see anything,” a neighbor told Dahe Daily, according to a SCMP translation.

The
husband and his mother both had pulses when they were rescued, but died
after it took medical responders more than an hour to arrive on the
scene.

"Two lives have gone in five minutes
and my cousin's wife is still in coma, leaving a partially-paralyzed
old man and a one-year-old son at home." the husband's uncle said,
according to Shanghaist. "What are we supposed to do?"

A Zookeeper Dressed in a Gorilla Suit Got Shot With a Tranquilizer Dart

1:15 AM ET

A drill
at a Spanish zoo went horribly wrong as one veterinarian was unaware
that the gorilla on the loose was in fact an employee wearing a suit

A zookeeper at Loro Parque in Tenerife, Spain, was shot
with a tranquilizer dart that delivered a dose meant to take down a 180
kg ape. He was wearing a gorilla costume at the time, as part of a
drill simulating the escape of a captive animal.

Similar drills are standard procedure at zoos, but apparently in this
case one veterinarian was unaware of the ongoing exercise and promptly
shot the suited employee in the leg. The zookeeper suffered an allergic
reaction to the massive injection and was taken to University Hospital
of the Canary Islands, where he is in serious condition.

Loro Parque has been rattled by controversies in the past, most
notably in regard to its treatment of orca whales. On Christmas Eve
2009, a whale attacked and killed a trainer during a practice session,
providing fuel for many opponents of orca captivity.

A Zookeeper Dressed in a Gorilla Suit Got Shot With a Tranquilizer Dart

1:15 AM ET

A drill
at a Spanish zoo went horribly wrong as one veterinarian was unaware
that the gorilla on the loose was in fact an employee wearing a suit

A zookeeper at Loro Parque in Tenerife, Spain, was shot
with a tranquilizer dart that delivered a dose meant to take down a 180
kg ape. He was wearing a gorilla costume at the time, as part of a
drill simulating the escape of a captive animal.

Similar drills are standard procedure at zoos, but apparently in this
case one veterinarian was unaware of the ongoing exercise and promptly
shot the suited employee in the leg. The zookeeper suffered an allergic
reaction to the massive injection and was taken to University Hospital
of the Canary Islands, where he is in serious condition.

Loro Parque has been rattled by controversies in the past, most
notably in regard to its treatment of orca whales. On Christmas Eve
2009, a whale attacked and killed a trainer during a practice session,
providing fuel for many opponents of orca captivity.

Taylor Berman

The
Wichita Falls Times Record News reports the husband and wife were alone
in their vehicles during the wreck near the Marhard Pullet Farm. DPS
identified the victims as 31-year-old Nicolas Cruz and 26-year-old
Kristina Munoz.

The
crash happened late Wednesday morning, on a road about 60 miles from
Wichita Falls. Cruz and Munoz collided as they crested a hill near the
farm where both work, according to KETK. Neither was wearing a seatbelt.

"This
is a very narrow, blacktop county road and there are no markings," a
state trooper told KFDX. "There are no shoulder markings and there are
no center stripe markings."

Investigators are still looking into what caused the crash, though they believe speed may have been a factor.

Natchitoches sheriff: Slave case one of 'most gruesome deals' seen

Even veteran law enforcement officers had never seen anything like
this. A transgender woman allegedly held as a slave, degraded and
tortured. All in their quiet backyard of rural Natchitoches Parish.

“In
30-something years of law enforcement in this area, this is probably
one of the most gruesome deals that I’ve ever heard of, and I never
experienced anything like it before,” said Sheriff Victor Jones Jr. “I
always say, by the time you think you’ve seen it all, something else
comes along and takes place.”

Law
enforcement officials shared more details Friday in the disturbing case
where three people allegedly kept a transgender woman captive in the
Ajax area.

Three
suspects — David Rodriguez Jr., 37, and Christina Marie Harper, 39, both
of Pleasant Hill, and Ambre Tubbs Lomas, 39, of Shreveport — were being
held on charges including human trafficking and kidnapping.

The victim is in her early 50s and from Minnesota. She is being held in protective custody with her identity protected.

She
met Rodriguez and Harper, who are married, online and agreed to move
across the country to their secluded mobile home about two years ago.

“In
this particular case, the victim probably had some depression, going
through the sex change, being disowned by her family,” said Carey
Etheredge, criminal investigator and forensic examiner with the
Natchitoches Parish Sheriff’s Office. “Suspects prey on people in this
situation. They know how to talk to them, what to say to them to make
them feel comfortable and make them think they’re coming to live a
different life.”

For
a time, investigators say, the relationship was consensual, though the
victim lived in conditions many would find appalling and was subjected
to physical and mental abuse.

She
slept in a 3-by-5 foot wooden box and was used to perform menial tasks
and sexual acts. She was tattooed with a mark identifying her as a slave
and registered on a website that bills itself as only registering
people for consensual submissive or slave relationships.

Investigators still are trying to pinpoint which acts the victim may
have been coerced to perform and how long ago any coercion began. What
is clear, they say, is she recently clearly stated a desire to leave.

“A 35-foot chain was put around her neck and she was locked up when she made that comment,” Key said.

The
victim was kept chained outside, nude, for two days and two nights with
no food or water, Key said. She was later moved, still chained, to a
storage building. While being held in this manner, she suffered beatings
and had urine thrown on her.

After
several days in the storage building, investigators said, the victim
was able to break free, took one of the suspects’ vehicles and drove
down Interstate 49 to exit 138, where several brightly lit businesses
are located just off the highway. As it happened, Shelby Borders,
assistant police chief for the town of Robeline, was parked at a gas
station there in his marked vehicle.

The victim approached him.

“It
was a shock to start with,” Borders said. “She stated she had been held
captive. She was real frantic. There was a lot of fast talk. I had
never seen anything to this extent before. My initial reaction was to
focus on the needs at hand — make sure the scene was safe, see if anyone
was following the victim and meet her medical needs.”

After the victim was treated for injuries including bruises and lacerations, she began telling her story to investigators.

Rodriguez
and Harper both were charged with one count of human trafficking, one
count of aggravated second-degree battery, one count of second-degree
kidnapping/false imprisonment and two counts of offenses against
computer users. Their bonds were set at $635,000 each.

Lomas,
who investigators say was friends with Harper and Rodriguez, was
charged with one count of human trafficking, one count of aggravated
second-degree battery, one count of second-degree kidnapping/false
imprisonment and two counts of offenses against computer users.

Investigators said the suspects have spoken to officers, but declined
to provide details about their statements. All three were being held
Friday in the Natchitoches Parish Detention Center.

“Human
trafficking can be up to 10 years, and there are several other charges
that have very significant hard labor sentences,” said Assistant
District Attorney Billy Joe Harrington.

During
a search of the residence in the 500 block of Dick Anderson Road near
Ajax, deputies seized 15 firearms and a stun gun, as well as video and
computer equipment. Investigators are still going through material on
the electronics to see if there is potentially incriminating evidence.

Two teenagers, children of Harper’s, were removed from the scene by the State Office of Child Protective Services.

Investigators said more charges could be coming.

A
joint statement issued Friday by Louisiana Trans Advocates and Equality
Louisiana read, in part, “The deprivation of freedom and basic human
dignity demonstrated in this case serve as a reminder that things like
this happen in the cities and parishes of our state and are far too
often ignored by the media and law enforcement. It is not uncommon for
transgender women to be subjected to violence that results in their
death. LGBT people, people of color, women and many other populations
experience unacceptable treatment on a daily basis. This woman survived,
while many women do not.

This literally made me cry. No one should have to go through this or feel this way. This monster's life needs to be cut short.

As his rapist heads to prison, boy writes: 'I don't like to talk about what happened to me'

A 14-year-old boy who was raped five times by a Marrero man in 2009 didn't show up in court Wednesday to see his attacker punished. Instead, the teen gave a statement to a prosecutor to read aloud, before Ozaki Trice was sent to prison for the rest of his life.

"I don't like to talk about what happened to me," the boy, who was 8 years old when he was raped, wrote. "I just want it all to go away. But it don't. I get so mad and act out a lot. People that remind me of him, I curse them out. And it's not what I want to do. But I can't help it. I just go off."

Trice, 27, showed no sign of emotion as Assistant District Attorney Shannon Swaim read the letter to 24th Judicial District Judge Ray Steib. He looked ahead, seemingly oblivious to the inmate chained to his right who cast stern glances at him upon hearing details of the case.

Trice was convicted May 8 of aggravated rape, for the abuse that came to light in July 2009. The boy said he was raped in the homes of his grandmother and an uncle, including once as he waited for the school bus, according to trial evidence.

Trice denied it. His attorney, Marceline Bleich, asked Wednesday for a new trial and a post-verdict judgment of acquittal, on grounds that the evidence fell woefully short.

The jury convicted him in less than two hours of deliberation, and Steib, in denying both requests, said he heard the boy testify. Life in prison in the mandatory punishment for aggravated rape.

The boy's mother, 35, didn't believe her son's assertions, either, and refused to cooperate with authorities. Earlier this year, she wouldn't deliver her son to the Jefferson Parish Courthouse in Gretna from their home in Texas, to testify against Trice. Steib canceled the trial that week and ordered that Trice released from jail.

The mother was arrested in January and since has pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact to aggravated rape. She was sentenced to a year in prison.

The boy opined on his mother as well. "I don't have no respect for my mama," he wrote. "I think she is sad. But I love her. I don't ever want to live with her, and I worry a lot about my lil sisters.

I don't have no respect for my mama. I think she is sad." - Rape victim, 14.

"I just wanna say thank everybody for keeping that man where he belong, cause that is where he belong, in jail. I thank God, too, although since this happen, I don't believe in him that much lately."

Trice's mother, Evatte Trice, 54, of Marrero, also is charged with accessory after the fact to aggravated rape. She's accused of helping her son avoid prosecution. She has pleaded not guilty.

Calderon, 29, is expected to be booked with second-degree murder and first-degree feticide in the deaths of Katherine Martinez, 23, and her unborn daughter. Calderon admitted to stabbing Martinez and then choking her to death in the Martinez's Terrytown apartment on Saturday (June 7), Sheriff Newell Normand said at a news conference Wednesday, held shortly after authorities announced his arrest.

Family members and friends told investigators that Calderon had been stalking Martinez on social media, Normand said. The two had an on-again off-again relationship, but were not a couple when Martinez was killed.

Authorities have said Calderon confessed to killing Martinez in a rage during and argument fueled by the revelation that he was not the father of her unborn baby. Calderon learned his paternity status about a month ago, according to Normand.

Martinez's mother found her dead early Sunday morning after breaking into her apartment, located at 617 Whitney Ave., Terrytown. She had become concerned when Martinez failed to pick her up at the airport earlier in the evening.

Detectives identified Calderon as a suspect and he was taken into custody at his place of employment in Terrebonne Parish, Normand said. During initial questioning, Calderon told detectives he visited Martinez at her apartment and the two fought.

Investigators believe Martinez had been dead for about 12 hours by the time her body was found.

Man left 2-year-old niece in car while he fatally shot an Algiers man in street, JPSO says

But Jefferson Parish Sheriff's detectives say the 28-year-old Marrero man made a stop along the way and killed a man in the street while the child waited in the car.

Kenneth Clark, 28, of 810 Bellville Ave., in Algierswas found shot to death Saturday (March 7) in front of 4249 Lac Bienville Dr., Apt. D, in Harvey, according to sheriff's office spokesman Col. John Fortunato.

While Detective Rhonda Goff investigated Clark's death, witness descriptions of the suspect and suspect vehicle led her to Bradley.

Bradley's sister, Ebony Bradley of Marrero, said she lent her brother her blue Ford Taurus around 11 a.m. so that he could pick up her toddler in the Tallow Tree area, about five miles away.

Fortunato said witnesses described seeing a man drive away from the homicide scene. The man, they said, held a white shirt over his face as he maneuvered a Taurus down the street. Goff used cameras in the area to track the license plate, arriving at Ebony Bradley's residence in the 2000 block of Constantine Drive in Marrero, Fortunato said.

According to the Fortunato, Ebony Bradley told detectives her brother returned home with her daughter around 12:30 p.m.

When Reginald Bradley was questioned, he told detectives that he picked up his niece and then drove to the 4200 block of Lac Bienville Drive, where he left the child in the car to visit a friend before returning home. But Bradley requested an attorney when detectives began asking about Clark.

Bradley has been booked into Jefferson Parish Correctional Center and charged with one count second-degree murder.

He has been arrested multiple times, according to law enforcement, including for armed robbery, carjacking, theft, battery on a police officer, escape, felon in possession of a firearm, possession of stolen things, attempted theft, criminal damage to property and disturbing the peace.

Clark, too, had an extensive history of arrests, Fortunato said, including second degree murder, armed robbery, battery, resisting arrest and assault.

Ohio teacher accused of hiding video camera in bathroom to record 25 kindergartners

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- An Ohio teacher secretly recorded his kindergarten students using a tiny spy camera hung inside his classroom's bathroom, prosecutors said Saturday.

Dozens of videos of students were found on the computer of Elliot Gornall, 32, a former teacher at the elementary school in Loudonville who resigned last year after being charged in another case, Ashland County Prosecutor Chris Tunnell said.

"The thought that a previously trusted kindergarten teacher would take advantage of young children in this way is horrifying," Tunnell said in a statement announcing the charges.

Gornall faces 25 felony charges: 23 counts of illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material or performance and two counts of attempting the same crime. Twenty-five kindergartners were recorded, Tunnell said.

Gornall had worked in the district for four years following clean background checks, officials said.

"He was well-liked by students and staff and parents," said Annette Gorrell, principal at R.F. McMullen Elementary School. "The betrayal is huge."

Gornall was arrested Friday and was expected in court Monday. A message left for his attorney Saturday seeking comment on the charges was not immediately returned.

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